When they first saw figures moving at the passage entrance, the members of the Covering Moon Sect looked delighted.
But once they realized the newcomers were from Yellow Maple Valley, their delight immediately turned to disappointment.
Naruto surveyed the situation outside the passage, then slowly walked over to his sect's gathering place and sat down leisurely beside Han Li.
With that, Yellow Maple Valley had the most disciples among the six sects to make it out of the Forbidden Grounds alive.
Li Huayuan could no longer conceal his delight, and his face beamed.
Old Monster Qiong, however, rolled his eyes and snorted in displeasure.
When Chen Qiaoqian and the others saw that Naruto, a ninth-layer disciple, had emerged from the Forbidden Grounds completely unscathed, they could not help looking stunned.
But something seemed to occur to them immediately afterward. They shot Naruto contemptuous glances, then paid him no further attention.
Clearly, they all believed Naruto was a coward who had hidden himself away without taking part in a single fight. Surely, he had gained nothing either!
Naruto did not care in the slightest about their attitude.
He had come out so late because something had delayed him. Originally, he had intended to be the first one out.
But when he spotted two high-grade, rank-one flying demonic beasts and their nest of young in a towering tree in the distance, he had caught the whole family, intending to give them to Hinata and the others as spirit beasts.
That had delayed him a little.
Another hour passed without any more disciples emerging. In particular, not a single member of the Covering Moon Sect had appeared yet.
Only half an hour remained before the passage closed.
At this point, Old Monster Qiong and Fairy Nishang, the Covering Moon Sect's Core Formation elder,